






















































/ 



IMMORTALITY 


(One of a series of subjects, under the 
general head, “The Mysteries of 
Religion Simplified-”) 


-By- 


James M. McLeskey. D«D. 


Author of 

“Is Christianity the Only True 
Religion?” etc. 


Cumberland Presbyterian Pub. House 
Nashville, Tenn. 

e 


c i 



Copyright, 1923, by 
James M. McLeskey 




MY • I 1924 


This book contains only one of the 
author’s series of subjects under the 
general head, “The Mysteries of Reli¬ 
gion Simplified.” Our purpose in this 
and in the entire series is to strengthen 
the faith of those who are the victims 
of sincere doubt, by presenting evidence 
to assure them that the claims of the. 
Christian religion will successfully stand 
the acid test of investigation and hard 
reason. While these subjects are adapt¬ 
ed to people of all ages, our primary pur- 
pose is to answer for young people the 
perplexing religious questions which 



often confront them in those adolescent 
years when their religious convictions 
are often unsettled for want of a proper 
knowledge of religious facts. Young 

people too often become the victims of 
false teachers during this unsettled age, 

when, with open minds, they eagerly 

scan the ecclesiastical shore, seeking for 
a safe place to tie. Too many people 
have suffered unnecessary distress over 
questions which could have been an¬ 
swered in a moment by those who un¬ 
derstand. Settled convictions and tri¬ 
umphant faith are necessary to religious 
happiness and spiritual power. 


A list of the entire series on “The 
Mysteries of Religion” will be found in 
the back of this volume. We trust that 

they may be of help to any who may be 
perplexed on questions of religion. We 
are especially hopeful that they may 
find their way into the hands of many 
young people, to protect them from the 
tragedy of a flickering faith. 


CONTENTS 

Immortality 

Realization Limited. 

A Seeming Discrepancy. 

Atomic Change., 

Identity Perpetual. 

• . 

Dr. Blake's Argument. 

Mind and Soul Distinguished. 

Positive Reasons: 

The Bible Teaches Immortality. 
History Testifies. 

A Seeming Difficulty. 

Justice Demands a Life to Come. 
Physical Limitations. 

Law of Demand and Supply. 
Instinct and Immortality. 
Conscience. 

Arguments From Analogy. 

The Testimony of the Dying. 



"Life is real! Life is earnest! 

And the grave is not its goal; 
Dust thou art, to dust returnest, 
Was not spoken of the soul.” 

—Longfellow. 


IMMORTALITY 


“If a man die, shall he live again?"— 
Job 14:14. 

I appreciate the sacredness of this 
very personal question to every indi¬ 
vidual. I am mindful of the tragedy of a 
dickering faith and of mental doubts and 
fears, for, in the language of Paul, “If 
in this life only we have hope in Christ, 
we are of all men most miserable." I 
therefore humbly undertake to say 
something, and to bring to your atten¬ 
tion the practical philosophy of others, 
in this effort to vindicate the reason¬ 
ableness of our hope. It is not our pur- 



IMMORTALITY 


pose in this chapter to enter into the 
question of future reward and future 
punishment. The question is, “Will 
one's identity be perpetuated after 
death?" 

Realization Limited 

Some may have doubts as to a life be¬ 
yond the grave, simply because of their 
inability to fully realize that a blessing 
so tremendous will become a real fact. 
The blessing is so wonderful that they 
conclude that it is merely a dream, a 
fancy. Do not stake your faith upon 
your power to realize. Death would 

12 




IMMORTALITY 


seem equally as fanciful were it not for 
the fact that the possibility of doubt 
on that point has been so com¬ 
pletely overcome by observation. I 
went with my father, when I was a 
child, to a Tennessee town. A young 
man, sentenced to be hanged on that 
day, had asked for the privilege of talk¬ 
ing with him. The gallows was near the 
jail. Everything was in readiness. 
While talking to him about the welfare 
of his soul, my father said to the unfor¬ 
tunate boy, “Do you realize that within 
two hours you will be in eternity ?” He 
replied, “No; here are all my clothes 

IB 




IMMORTALITY 


r :- 

that I am to wear, and everything seems 
to be ready, but it seems to me like the 
sun will go down this evening just as 
it did yesterday.” Bring it home to 
yourself. Does it not seem fanciful that 
you—really you—are soon to enter “that 
mysterious realm where each shall take 
his chamber in the silent halls of 
death” ? No; you cannot realize it. Are 
you not glad that this is true? It is a 
mysterious, but kind, economy that 
limits our realization to a horizon which 
conceals our heartaches yet to come. 

One sense is developed at the expense 

of another. When one's sense of sight 

14 




IMMORTALITY 


is lost, his sense of touch becomes more 
useful. Watch the blind piano tuner 
dissect the piano action and replace it. 

Wonderful were the qualities added to 
his sense of touch at the expense of his 
sense of sight. Likewise, this horizon 
which limits our realization, seems to 
add to our faith its romance, an¬ 
ticipation and the speculative element 

which make the future so interesting. 
Do not reject the fact of immortality 
simply because your realization is lim¬ 
ited. 

Picture for a moment our present life. 
Suppose that we had not yet lived this 

15 




IMMORTALITY 


life, and yet in some mysterious way 
we were able to anticipate it. Candidly, 
would not this life seem like a dream, 
a fancy? After all, a life to come is 
no more mysterious than the life that 
we are living now. 

A Seeming Discrepancy 

The question before us involves not 
only the immortality of the soul, but 
also the resurrection of the body. And 
some might wonder if there is a serious 
discrepancy between Paul's expression 
in 1 Cor. 15: 50, “Flesh and blood can¬ 
not inherit the kingdom of God," and 

16 




IMMORTALITY 


his teaching concerning the resurrection 

of the body, throughout the same chap¬ 
ter- Does this statement conflict with 
Job 19: 26, “And though after my skin 
worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh 
shall I see God” ? 

I quote from “A Picture of the Res¬ 
urrection,” by Dr. James M. Gray, pub¬ 
lished by Fleming H. Revell Company, 
which beautifully answers this question: 

“ ‘Flesh and blood' cannot inherit it, be¬ 
cause that is just another name for our 
human nature as it is, and Paul has al¬ 
ready taught us that a change is neces¬ 
sary. Some of the early heretics made 

17 





IMMORTALITY 


so much of this expression, ‘flesh and 
blood/ as to jump at the conclusion that 
it disposed of a material resurrection al¬ 
together. As if Paul would so flatly con¬ 
tradict himself almost in the same 
breath! But the early fathers of the 
church opposed them, and cited as an 
argument the words of Jesus in Luke 
24: 89, where He attested His own res¬ 
urrection by saying to His disciples, ‘A 
spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see 
me have/ Evidently ‘flesh and bones’ 
and ‘flesh and blood’ are not identical 
terms. Quoting the Numerical Bible, 
‘The blood applies to the present life. It 

18 




IMMORTALITY 


is the vehicle of change. It is that which 
implies the need of continual sustenance 

and renewal. A body which needs no 
renewal cannot need blood to renew it/ 

Was it for this reason that Jesus spake 
of Himself not as having ‘flesh and 
blood/ but ‘flesh and bones' ? He 
poured out His blood, and left it with 
the earthly life that He had lived. But 
now He had entered on a new sphere, re¬ 
taining all that made Him truly man, but 
not the conditions of the old earthly life. 
Is this what Paul means? May we say 
that ‘flesh and blood' shall not inherit 
the kingdom of God in this sense of it ?" 

19 




IMMORTALITY 


Dr. Gray’s explanation is beautiful. 
“Flesh and blood,” then, applies to the 
natural body, “flesh and bones” to the 
spiritual body. “Flesh and blood” ap¬ 
plies to the body “sown in corruption,” 
“flesh and bones” to the body “raised in 
incorruption.” The same body, but the 
same body changed, rearranged, reno¬ 
vated, made fit for its new home. 

Atomic Change 

Another question naturally arises: Is 
it possible that our same body will be 
raised, in view of the scientific fact that 
the particles that compose the main bulk 

20 




IMMORTALITY 


of the body are displaced about every 
seven years, and are superseded by 
other particles, and especially when the 

body has died, decomposed, supported 
vegetation, animals have eaten of that 
vegetation, and those animals have been 
eaten by other individuals? Is it pos¬ 
sible where cannibals are in the habit 
of devouring one another? 

I quote the late Dr. Watts: *“It is 
very probable that a newborn infant, in 
its muscles and nerves (and especially 
in its bowels and bones) has some orig- 


*Note: Ewing's Lectures, p. 138. 

21 





IMMORTALITY 


inal, essential and constituent tubes, 
fibers or staminal particles (if I may so 
call them) which remain the same, and 

unchanged, through all the stages and 
changes of life, in following years, how 

much-soever the external and fleshy 
parts may be changed. And some phil¬ 
osophers maintain that the growth of 
the animal body is nothing but the di 
lation, stretching or spreading of these 
fibers, tubes or membranes by the inter¬ 
position of new additional particles; 
which additional and accidental par¬ 
ticles are the only things which are in 
perpetual flux, and always changing. 

22 




IMMORTALITY 


And it may be added, also, that perhaps 
these essential, staminal particles are of 
such a nature as not to join and unite 
with other animal or human bodies, and 
constitute an essential constituent part 
of them; and therefore, if mankind were 
all cannibals, and ate one another, as 
well as the flesh of beasts, yet the same 
staminal, or constituent particles, can¬ 
not belong to the bodies of two or more 
human persons. 

“It has been said by some philosophers 
that the mere membranous parts of an 
animal body, though eaten by other ani¬ 
mals, will not easily, if at all, digest; and 

23 




IMMORTALITY 


then they cannot be sanguified, or 
turned into blood; nor can they become 

nutritive juices, nor form the constitu¬ 
ent and essential parts of other animals. 
Now, a great many of the original, con¬ 
stituent parts of the human body are 
membranous, for some suppose almost 
the whole body to be made of tubes and 
juices, with little interspersed fibers, 
which are added by nutrition. And how 
far the bones, that is, the original, mere 
osseous substance, may be indigestible 
also, who can tell? 7 

“Upon the whole, it seems that these 
essential, constituent, or staminal par- 

24 




IMMORTALITY 


tides, whatsoever they be, whether os¬ 
seous or membranous, or of any other 
quality, and how few soever they be, 
always abide the same, even when the 

body is greatly enlarged by the perpetu¬ 
al interposition of additional nutritive 
partides, which are in continual flux. I 
say also that it seems that these un¬ 
changing parts, whether few or many, 
in union with the same soul, are abun¬ 
dantly sufficient to denominate Methuse¬ 
lah the infant, and Methuselah the aged, 
the same person; and then, also, these 
few essential, constituent particles, pre¬ 
served by Divine Providence, and raised 

25 




IMMORTALITY 


in the formation of a new body, and 
united to the same soul, are sufficient to 
denominate Methuselah dying, and Me¬ 
thuselah rising, the same person still, 
both soul and body.” 

Identity Perpetual 

It is obvious, regardless of our esti¬ 
mate of the philosophy of Dr. Watts, 
that this constant shifting of the par¬ 
ticles that compose the body does not 
interfere with or change the identity. 
Our loved ones remain the same 
throughout the years, despite the re¬ 
moval of atoms by perspiration, attri- 

26 




IMMORTALITY 


tion and secretion, and it is in this sense 
that our bodies will be the same in their 

resurrection form. After all, we are 
concerned not so much with the atoms 
that compose the body, but more with 
the personality—that which knows and 
is known—the identity. Regardless of 
atomic changes, if I can meet my lorved 
ones in glory and recognize and love 
them as I do here, that will be heaven 
for me. 

But instead of the resurrection change 
presenting a difficulty, it offers to me a 
blessing for which I am truly grateful. 
The bodies of the saints will be like unto 

27 




IMMORTALITY 


the body of our dear Lord. They will be 
no longer subject to pain and disease, 
but will have greater capacity for the 
enjoyment of the love, laughter and tri¬ 
umph of eternal felicity. 

Dr. Blake’s Argument 

Dr. Blake, speaking of the soul’s im¬ 
mortality, said: “The objections, 

though they may be urged in different 
form, may all be resolved into one, 
which is as follows: 

“The soul is material—a mere func¬ 
tion of the brain—and consequently, at 
the dissolution of the body, will cease to 

28 




IMMORTALITY 


exist. Those who advocate this theory 
are called, and properly so, materialists. 
The supporters of this theory claim that 
it is a new doctrine—a doctrine devel¬ 
oped by distinguished scientists of the 
present century—a doctrine, too, neces¬ 
sarily resulting from a thorough knowl¬ 
edge of physical organism. In this as¬ 
sertion, however, they are sadly mistak¬ 
en. The doctrine is as old as the sect of 
the Jews called the Sadducees, and in the 
early history of the Christian church we 
find the celebrated Origen combating 
and refuting the pernicious dogma. In¬ 
deed, the materialism of the present day 

29 




IMMORTALITY 


is simply a repetition of the theory of all 
infidel philosophers, in all of the past 
ages, and in all countries, whether pagan 
or Mohammedan, Jewish or Christian.^ 
Hobbes, Yolney, Hume, Voltaire, etc., re¬ 
vived the old, exploded theory of the 
ancients, and Darwin, Tyndall, Huxley, 
etc., are ‘repeaters/ or, to change the 
figure, the grotto through which the 
poisonous stream is to flow. Now let 
us calmly investigate this theory. 

“What is matter? What are its es¬ 
sential properties? In answer to the 
last question, we reply they are, impene¬ 
trability, extension, figure, divisibility, 
inertia, etc. 


30 




IMMORTALITY 


“By the impenetrability of matter we 
mean that no two bodies can occupy the 

same space at the same time. For illus¬ 
tration, take a ‘vessel and fill it with 
water, and the same vessel cannot, at 
the same time, be filled with any other 
liquid. Now, is this true of that phe¬ 
nomenon which we call mind, or spirit? 
Does it possess such a property? The 
attempt to even conceive of the mind as 
being thus restricted to a limited space, 
and so filling that space as that nothing 
else can occupy it at the same time, is 
revolting to all common sense. 

“Extension as a property of matter 


31 




IMMORTALITY 


means length, breadth and thickness— 
something that can be weighed or meas¬ 
ured. But what would we think of a 
man who would speak of a pound of 
mind, a square yard of mind, ten gal¬ 
lons of mind, etc.? 

“Figure means shape when applied to 
matter. Now, who can even conceive 
of mind as possessing shape? If so, 
what is its shape? Is it square? a tri¬ 
angle? a circle? or what? 

“Divisibility is also a property of 
matter. Can the same be affirmed of 
mind ? Can it be divided and subdivided 
into the minutest parts, as we can divide 

32 




IMMORTALITY 


matter? Can it be cut, broken, pound¬ 
ed, etc., as we can do with matter? The 
idea is absurd. We might thus pass 
through the whole list, but surely this is 
enough to convince anyone that matter 
is not mind.” 

Distinction Between 
Mind and Soul 

Dr. Blake has suggested a broad field 

[ . 

of thought, but in addition to his strong 
arguments, I would call attention to the 
distinction between the mind and the 
soul. 

One argument which materialists use 

33 





IMMORTALITY 


to prove that the mind or spirit is a 
function of the brain, is that when the 

brain becomes diseased the mind ceases 
—is lost. But this argument deserves 
no consideration until they first prove 
that mind and spirit are the same, and 
that there is no soul in man independent 
of the brain. 

In 2 Cor. 4: 16 we read: “But though 
our outward man perish, yet the inward 
man is renewed day by day.” The fact 
is, there is a separate entity in a man, a 
spiritual intelligence independent of 
the mental. These two natures are 
vividly contrasted by Paul in the 7th 


34 




IMMORTALITY 


chapter of Romans (verses 21-23): “I 
find then a law, that, when I would do 
good, evil is present w T ith me. 

“For I delight in the law of God after 
the inward man. 

“But I see another law in my mem¬ 
bers, warring against the law of my 
mind, and bringing me into captivity to 
the law of sin which is in my members,” 

The following passages will throw ad¬ 
ditional light upon this question: 

Rom. 8: 16: “The Spirit itself bear- 
eth witness with our spirit, that we are 
the children of God.” 

Eccl. 12: 7: “Then shall the dust re- 

35 




IMMORTALITY 


turn to the earth as it was: and the 
spirit shall return unto God who 
gave it.” 

John 3: 6: “That which is born of 
the flesh is flesh; and that which is bora 
of the Spirit is spirit.” 

Our Lord in Gethsemane said (Mark 
14: 38) : “The spirit truly is ready, but 
the flesh is weak.” 

This spiritual nature is sometimes 
called soul, spirit, heart, inner man, etc. 
The word, mind, is generally used to ex¬ 
press the action of the brain, but it is 
sometimes used to express the inner or 
spiritual man, as in Paul's language 

36 




IMMORTALITY 


above. Verse 22 says “inner man.” The 
word, “mind,” in verse 23, is used in the 

same sense as “inner man” in verse 22. 
This same idea is a little more fully de¬ 
veloped by Paul in his letter to the 
Corinthians (1 Cor. 2: 14): “But the 
natural man receiveth not the things of 
the Spirit of God: for they are foolish¬ 
ness unto him: neither can he know 
them, because they are spiritually dis¬ 
cerned.” This shows conclusively that 
this spiritual man is an intelligence dis¬ 
tinct from the natural intelligence, 
though generally in close co-operation 
and association with the natural, yet 

37 




IMMORTALITY 


sometimes in fierce conflict with it, as 
seen in the above statement of Paul to 
the Romans. 

The truth of these Bible statements 
is verified by human experience. Have 
you not felt this conflict between con¬ 
science and natural inclinations; or be¬ 
tween the flesh and the spirit? 

We will not go into detail here as to 
the influence which the two separate en¬ 
tities—the natural man with its intel¬ 
lect, and the inner man with its separate 
intelligence—exert upon each other in 
this life. Nor will we discuss their re¬ 
spective powers and privileges in the 

38 




IMMORTALITY 


realm of faith. But it will serve our 

present purpose to say that the primary 
function of our natural mind is to meet 
our needs in this life, and the primary 
function of the spiritual intelligence is 
to meet our needs in the life to come. 

Dives had a soul during his natural 
life, yet his intellectual range was lim¬ 
ited to the natural realm. But when he 
died, and his brain ceased to function, 
his intelligence expanded into the infi¬ 
nite realm, and he in hell was able to 
converse intelligently with Abraham, 
who was in heaven. This explains the 
sense in which the inner man has its 

39 






IMMORTALITY 


intelligence independent of the work 
of the brain. 

The intellectual responsibility, so to 
speak, changes from the natural to the 
spiritual man when the individual is in 
the twilight between life and death. 
This is clear from the many words of 
those who in the last moments of life 
were able to see into the other realm 
just in time to leave their testimonies. 

The theory that we can in this life, 
through a human medium, converse 
with departed spirits is sophistry and 
superstition. 

Having considered the objections, we 

40 




IMMORTALITY 


will now give eight positive reasons why 
we believe that if a man die, he shall 
live again: 

I.—Because the Bible 
Teaches It 

Read 1 Pet. 1:3-5; Phil. 1: 22, 23; 2 
Cor. 5: 1, 6, 8; Matt. 10: 28; Heb. 11: 
13-1 , and the story of Dives and Laza¬ 
rus (Luke 16). In the 12th chapter of 
Ecclesiastes, the 6th and 7th verses, we 
learn that when the dust returns to the 
earth as it was, the spirit returns to 
God who gave it. 

Space forbids that I mention all of 

41 




IMMORTALITY 


the passages that teach a life beyond the 
grave. But all who have read the Bible 

are aware that this is the very warp and 
woof of Bible teaching. Since this is 
true, and in view of its fulfilled prophe¬ 
cies, the harmony of the writers, the un¬ 
selfishness and impartiality of its writ¬ 
ers, who recorded their points of weak¬ 
ness as well as their virtues; the fact 
that the Bible condemns falsehood and 
hypocrisy; that had the writers been 
hypocrites and untrue men they would 
not have spent their lives in the produc¬ 
tion of a work that would condemn its 
authors and then seal their testimony 

42 




IMMORTALITY 


with their own blood; and many other 
points of evidence that we have devel¬ 
oped under the subject, “Have We Rea¬ 
son to Believe That the Bible Is the 
Word of God, ,, I conclude that the Bible 
must be true. 

Then, since the Bible teaches a life 
beyond the grave, and since the Bible is 
true, I conclude there must be a life 
after death. 

II.—History Tells of Those 

Who Have Lived After Death 

In the minds of those who have con¬ 
fidence in the Scriptures there can be 
no doubt as to the resurrection of Jesus 

43 




IMMORTALITY 


Christ from the dead. But for the bene¬ 
fit of the agnostic, we would say that 
profane history substantiates the Bible 
account. Ignatius, of the second cen¬ 
tury, speaks of the resurrection day as 
being “the highest of all days.” Theo- 
philus, of the second century, said, 
“Both custom and reason challenge from 
us that we should honor the Lord's day, 
seeing on that day it was that our Lord 
Jesus completed His resurrection from 
the dead.” 

Clement of Alexandria, of the second 
century, said: “A Christian, according 
to the command of the gospel, observes 

44 




IMMORTALITY 


the Lord’s Day, thereby glorifying the 
resurrection of the Lord.” Josephus 
said: “Now there was about this time 
Jesus, a wise man; if it be lawful to call 
him a man; for he was a doer of won¬ 
derful works, and a teacher of such men 
as received the truth with pleasure. He 

drew over to him both many of the Jews 
and many of the Gentiles. He was the 
Christ. And when Pilate, at the sugges¬ 
tion of the principal men among us, con¬ 
demned him to the cross, those that 
loved him at the first did not forsake 
him: for he appeared to them alive again 
the third day; as the divine prophets 

45 




IMMORTALITY 


had foretold these and ten thousand 

other wonderful things concerning him.” 

So we see that the resurrection of Jesus 
is a historic fact. We have such an 

abundance of evidence that there is left 
no room for reasonable doubt. 

The resurrection of Jesus, then, proves 
the possibility of life after death. In 
John 11: 25, 26, in conversation with 
Martha, Jesus beautifully coupled our 
life to come with His resurrection in the 
following words: “Jesus said unto her, I 
am the resurrection, and the life; he 
that believeth in me, though he were 
dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever 
liveth and believeth in me shall never 
die.” In His resurrection He vouchsafed 

46 




IMMORTALITY 


to us our own survival of death. 

A Seeming Difficulty 

I must pause just here long enough to 
consider a difficulty which presents it¬ 
self to many Bible readers concerning 

the account of the death and resurrec¬ 
tion of Jesus. In Matt. 12: 40 we find 
the prophecy that Jesus was to be in the 
heart of the earth three days and three 

nights. In Mark 15: 42 we learn that 
Jesus was crucified on “the day before 
the sabbath.” Since the Jewish weekly 
sabbath was on Saturday, many think 
that He must have been crucified on Fri¬ 
day (hence Good Friday), and as the 
tomb was found empty very early on the 

47 




IMMORTALITY 


first day of the week, it is difficult for 
one to figure three days and nights be¬ 
tween Friday (afternoon) and the Sun¬ 
day morning. But the difficulty disap¬ 
pears when we remember that the Jews 
observed other sabbaths, besides their 
weekly (seventh day) sabbath. We are 
told that the first day of the Passover 
week was a sabbath, no matter upon 
what day of the week it came (Ex. 12: 
16; Lev. 23: 7; Num. 28: 16-18). Jesus 
must have been crucified before this 
Passover sabbath (not the weekly sab¬ 
bath), because in John 19: 14 we are 
told that the day on which Jesus was 

48 




IMMORTALITY 


tried and crucified was “the preparation 
of the passover.” This Passover sab¬ 
bath took place on the fifteenth Nisan. 
We have abundant evidence that the 
Passover sabbath in that year occurred 
on Thursday. The day before the Pass- 
over sabbath was Wednesday. So it is 
easy to understand when we figure His 
death at the close of Wednesday (about 
6 p. m.) and his resurrection at the be¬ 
ginning of Sunday (probably slightly 
after 6 p. m. Saturday), that he was in 
the grave exactly three days and three 
nights. 

The ancient philosophers, according 


49 




IMMORTALITY 


to Smith’s and Peloubet’s Dictionary, re¬ 
garded the translation of Enoch and 
that of Elijah as historical proofs of a 

place of abode other than the earth. I 

« 

quote Josephus: “Now at this time Eli¬ 
jah disappeared from among them, and 
no one knows of his death to this very 
day. And indeed as to Elijah, and as 
to Enoch, who was before the deluge, it 

is written in the sacred Book that they 
disappeared, but so that no one knew 
that they died.” 

It is a fact of history that some have 
escaped death and some have lived after 
death- History, then, vindicates the rea¬ 
sonableness of our hope. 


50 




IMMORTALITY 


III.—Justice Demands 
A Life to Come 

Our God is a God of justice. To deny 
that justice is one of His essential at¬ 
tributes is to underestimate His moral 
excellence. Speaking of the necessity 
for a final judgment, Dr. Blake said: 

“But we find that at present justice 
is ‘meted out’ only in part. Those whom 

we call good are frequently left to strug¬ 
gle with poverty, and pine in affliction. 

while bold transgressors of the laws of 
God and man often pass their days in 
peace and affluence. Many crimes are 
secret—unknown to all but the guilty, 

51 





IMMORTALITY 


and, of public crimes, the authors are not 

always discovered, or they escape from 
justice by flight, or, what is worst of all, 
they frequently evade the penalty due to 
their iniquities by perjury or bribery. 
Now can such things be reconciled with 
the justice of God? If we deny the 
righteous awards of a future judgment, 
it is impossible. Admitting that in this 
life, the good, to some extent, have their 

reward, and that the vicious are fre¬ 
quently overtaken with condign punish¬ 
ment, yet so long as there is a solitary 
exception in the case of either class, the 
justice of God must demand a hereafter 

52 




IMMORTALITY 


to adjust these things. Is there not a 
recompense for a Job in affliction, for a 
Lazarus in poverty, for a John Bunyan 
in prison, and for a Christian martyr at 
the stake?” To be reasonable, we must 
expect a life to come in which God will 
vindicate and consummate this wonder¬ 
ful principle of justice. 

IV.—Because of the Serious Inequality 
Between Physical Possibilities and 
the Mental and Moral Blueprint of 
Life’s Hopes, Plans and Purposes: 

Our goals are not reached here, be¬ 
cause life’s bud is plucked before it has 
time to unfold into the full flower of 
one’s ideals. In the 11th chapter of He- 

53 




IMMORTALITY 


- 


brews, in the 13th and 14th verses we 
read of the patriarchs that they “con¬ 
fessed that they were strangers and pil¬ 
grims on the earth. For they that say 
such things declare plainly that they 
seek a country/' And in the 16th verse, 
“But now they desire a better country, 
that is an heavenly/' 

So in life’s journey, we are strangers 
and pilgrims here; our goal is far into 
the land of immortality. The physical 
grows weary and worn with the jour¬ 
ney, but not so with the advancing 

spirit. The serious question before us 
is, “What bearing will this physical col- 


54 




IMMORTALITY 


lapse have upon the journey ?” I often 
take over-night trips on the train. I 

plan, I hope, I expect to reach finally my 
destination. But I have not gotten far 
on the journey when my eyes become 
heavy and my body grows tired. I am 
compelled to close my eyes and sleep. 
Had I never taken this nap before, I 
might suffer anxiety and wonder if this 
unconscious sleep is to interrupt my 
journey. But after I have slept, the 
morning breaks, the sun rises, my eyes 
open. The porter calls; I am told that I 
have reached my destination. Yes, I 
have dreams, hopes, aspirations, ambi- 


oo 




IMMORTALITY 


tions and plans that I have not time to 
fully realize before this earthly life 
comes to a close, but I think that I am 
reasonable in hoping to realize them 
when the sleep of death is over, and I 
am permitted to awake with His like¬ 
ness. 

V.—Because of the Universal Law 
Of Demand and Supply 

Throughout the realm of nature, the 
supply has been provided for practically 
every demand. Even a mere man would 
not think of making a lock without mak¬ 
ing the key. Where you find the reed, 
you find the breeze. When God allowed 

56 





IMMORTALITY 


us to experience hunger, He supplied 
food. Where we find thirst, we find 

drink. The same God who gave us win¬ 
ter, gave us also material for clothes, 
and fuel for fire. I cannot trace this 
wonderful law very far without being 
constrained to pause long enough to 
adore Him who enacted this beautiful 
law. I exclaim with the Psalmist, “Mar¬ 
vellous are thy works; and that my soul 
knoweth right well.” This law becomes 
still more wonderful when I discover 
that it not only meets physical needs, 
but that it obtains in that tenderer side 
of life, where the heart’s affections and 

57 






IMMORTALITY 


emotions make demands just as serious 
and tremendous as those of the physical. 
No, I cannot think that God would 
create hunger without supplying food. I 
cannot believe that He would create 
thirst without providing a supply for its 
demand. He would not create within us 
an instinctive desire and expectation 
simply for our disappointment. It is 
evident that man has, as a very conspic¬ 
uous part of his nature, a serious de¬ 
mand and a pathetic cry for a life after 
death. According to this wonderful and 
universal law it is but reasonable that 
we should hope for a life after death to 
meet this serious demand. 


58 




IMMORTALITY 


VI.—Humanity Instinctively 
Believes in Immortality 

Traverse the globe, search every na¬ 
tionality, tribe and clan, regardless of 
religious training, and you will be im¬ 
pressed that God has placed within hu¬ 
manity an instinctive consciousness of 
immortality. Men do not agree as to the 
nature of immortality, and some indeed 
have very crude and undeveloped ideas, 
but upon close investigation we find that 

the germ of hope is there. The savage 
Indian, so close to nature's heart, an¬ 
ticipated the Happy Hunting Ground, 
and so strong was his faith that he often 

59 




IMMORTALITY 


wanted his bow and arrow, or his gun, 
buried with him. He expected to use 

them again. His ideas were crude, but 
the germ of hope was there. 

From what we can learn of the old 
Semitic religions, they, like the Indians, 
were not informed as to the idea of a 
glorious resurrection, but they in some 
way yoked immortality with the main¬ 
tenance of posterity, and childlessness 
was considered a great curse. So we see 
' that, though undeveloped, the germ of 
hope was there. 

ZOROASTRIANISM, the religion of 
Persia, was a religion of ancestral wor- 

60 




IMMORTALITY 


• 9 * 


ship. They held sacred feasts with the 
consecration of cakes on the anniversa¬ 
ries of their deaths, thinking that the 
souls of the departed should be fed. So 
we see the germ of hope was there. 

BRAHMANISM supposes that there 
is a wide stream between this world and 
the next. 

BUDDHISM teaches transmigration 
of souls, which is of course a crude idea 
of immortality. 

NIRVANA, or Nigban, is the goal of 
Buddhism. There has been a great deal 
of misunderstanding as to the real 
meaning of Nirvana. Some have 

61 




IMMORTALITY 


thought that it meant annihilation; 
others say, a swallowing up Into the 

Deity, and still others say that it means 
a state of perfect rest. Buddha once 
said: “Those only who have arrived at 
Nirvana are at rest.” Frank S. Dob¬ 
bins, who has treated the question care¬ 
fully and fully in the “Story of the 
World’s Worship,” does not agree that 
it means annihilation, but he assures us 
that the Buddhists of today believe in a 
definitely located paradise. Annihilation 
would not harmonize with their idea of 
transmigration of souls. But what is 
meant by transmigration of souls ? 

62 




IMMORTALITY 


They think that at the death of the body 
the soul may pass into another body. 
The body into which it goes may be that 
of an animal. We are told that they do 
not kill animals for fear of annoying the 
souls of men who have died. On the 
other hand, Mr. Dobbins tells us that 
the Jains, a Buddhist sect, conducted 
successfully a hospital for animals in 
Bombay. So from this, Nirvana cannot 
mean annihilation. Buddhism believes 

that the life of the soul is perpetual 
after the death of the body. 

HINDUISM is a revised Buddhism, 
and teaches the same idea of transmi¬ 
gration. 


63 




IMMORTALITY 


CHINESE WORSHIP: Confucian¬ 
ism, according to Frank S. Dobbins, 

teaches that a man has three souls. 
When the man dies, one soul remains 
with the body in its resting place, one 
lives in the ancestral table in the home, 
and the third lives in heaven. 

The Chinese Bridge-Ladder ceremony 
indicates their belief in a future life. In 
this ceremony they produce some kind 
of resemblance to a bridge and a lad¬ 
der. The bridge is to help the deceased 
in crossing streams, and the ladder is to 
help him over steep places on his jour¬ 
ney. 


64 




IMMORTALITY 


MOHAMMEDANISM teaches not only 
the immortality of the soul, but also the 
resurrection of the body. 

Dr. Blake says of the immortality of 
the soul: “This doctrine was believed by 
the Egyptians, the Phoenicians, the 
Persians, the Scythians, the Celts, the 
Druids, the Greeks, and the Romans. 

Indeed, there has never been a nation 
found on the face of the earth so crude 
and barbarous in which there was not 
fondly cherished a belief in an exist¬ 
ence after death. Surely a belief thus 
general—a belief bounded by no clime, 
and limited to no age—must be referred 
to the great Author of life as its source. 

65 




IMMORTALITY 


And if so, must it not be true?” 

Since this belief is so universal, it is 
surely a safe conclusion to class any who 
might not so believe as an exception to 
the rule. 

The consciousness of a life beyond the 

grave seems to be a part of our nature. 
It seems natural and instinctive for 
humanity to believe in and reach 
forth for immortality to satisfy the 
hunger of the soul, just as it is for the 
newborn babe to instinctively expect 
food. 

When Longfellow said: 

“Life is real! Life is earnest! 

And the grave is not its goal; 

‘Dust thou art, to dust returnest/ 
Was not spoken of the soul,” 


66 






IMMORTALITY 


he advanced no new theory. He simply 
painted a word picture of one of the 
most conspicuous instincts in human 
psychology. 

I love R. L. Taylor’s dream of heaven: 
“What heaven is I know not, but I 
long have dreamed of its purple hills; 

and its fields of light blossoming with 

/ 

immortal beauty; of its brooks of laugh¬ 
ter; its rivers of song, and its palace 
of eternal love. I long have dreamed 

that every bird which sings its life out 

here may sing forever there in the tree 
of life, and every consecrated soul that 
suffers here may rest among its flowers 
and live and love forever. I long have 

67 




IMMORTALITY 


dreamed of opal towers and burnished 
domes, but what care I for gate of pearl 

or street of gold, if I can meet the loved 
ones who have blessed me here, and see 
the glorified faces of father and mother 
and the boy brother who died among the 
bursting buds of hope; and take in my 
arms again my baby who fell asleep ere 
her little tongue had learned to lisp, ‘Our 
Father who art in heaven’ ? What care 
I for crown of stars and harp of gold 
if I can love and laugh and sing with 
them forever in the smile of my Saviour 
and my God ?” 

The office of an artist is not to in- 

68 




IMMORTALITY 


vent, but to picture (the true likeness 
of) that which already exists. Mr. Tay¬ 
lor was truly an artist. In his beauti¬ 
ful dream of heaven, he advanced no 
new theory, but he beautifully depicted 
in words the instinctive dreams, hopes 
and longings that have thrilled the 
hearts of humanity in all ages. 

When Fillmore Bennett wrote “In the 
Sweet By and By,” he advanced no new 
theory. The sentiment is as old as the 
needs of men. But who is so dense that 
he cannot see the artistic beauty of that 
graphic composition? 

When I review these wonderful words 

69 




IMMORTALITY 


of Longfellow, Taylor and Bennett, I am 

constrained to acknowledge their worth 

and beauty in the following language of 

the great Addison, who had reviewed 
the philosophy of Plato on this question: 

“It must be so; Plato, thou reasonest 
well I 

Else whence this pleasing hope, this 
fond desire, 

This longing after immortality ? 

Or whence this secret dread and inward 
horror 

Of falling into nought? Why shrinks 
the soul 

Back on herself, and startles at de¬ 
struction ? 

Tis the divinity that stirs within us; 

’Tis heaven itself that points out an 
hereafter, 

' And intimates eternity to man!” 


70 




IMMORTALITY 


This strong conviction which Joseph 
Addison cherished in life sustained him 
in death, as is revealed in his dying 
words, quoted on page 79. 

CONSCIENCE. This instinctive be¬ 
lief in immortality embraces the con¬ 
science. This silent monitor whispers to 
all that— 

“ ’Tis not all of life to live, 

Nor all of death to die.” 

How is it that the assassin is crazed on 

his death bed, while great men of God 
have died with peace in their hearts and 
shouts of triumph on their lips? Was 
conscience saying to the one, “Though 

71 




IMMORTALITY 


you may have deceived others and es¬ 
caped punishment in this life, you can¬ 
not evade the high court of God, nor 
escape the low prison of eternity ?” Wa $ 
it saying to the other, "Well done, thou 
good and faithful servant, enter thou 
into the joy of thy Lord”? 

VII.—Arguments from "Analogy” 

In our treatment of the questions, 
"Why Are We Not Permitted to Literal¬ 
ly See God's Face, and Hear His Voice 
in This Life Rather Than Be Permitted 

to Commune with Him Through Prayer 

% 

and Faith ?” and "The Psychology of Re¬ 
ligious Doubts and Fears,” I advance 

72 




IMMORTALITY 


many arguments from analogy which 

support not only the possibility, but also 
the probability, of a future life. I will 
not repeat. But I will call attention to, 
and quote the wonderful words of W. J. 
Bryan and the late R. L. Taylor on this 

great question: 

Mr. Bryan said of the soul: 

“If the Father deigns to touch with 
divine power the cold and pulseless heart 
of the buried acorn and make it burst 
forth from its prison walls, will He leave 
neglected the soul of man, who was 
made in the image of his Creator? If 
He so stoops to give to the rosebud, 

73 




IMMORTALITY 


whose withered blossoms float upon the 
autumn breeze, the sweet assurance of 
another springtime, will He withhold 
the words of hope from the souls of men 
when the frosts of winter come? If 
Matter, mute and inanimate is changed 
by the force of nature into a multitude 
of forms that never die, will the spirit 
of man suffer annihilation after it has 
paid a brief visit, like a royal guest, to 
this tenement of clay?” 

Mr. Taylor said of the body: 

“The flowers of the field rising from 
countless graves, the unfolding leaves of 
the forest heralding the approach of 

74 





IMMORTALITY 


summer, the orchards and meadows 
bursting into bloom, and myriads of 

winged minstrels filling the world with 
melody, are all the evangels of the Lord, 
demonstrating before our very eyes the 
universal victory of life over death. Mr. 
President, look how the rose hears the 
far-away call of the sun and blushes into 
the presence of its God. Look how the 
violet comes forth from its tiny tomb 
and opens its glad blue eyes to greet 
the spring. Are they not God's own an¬ 
swer to the question, Tf a man die, shall 
he live again?' 

‘Tf the germs of inanimate life, buried 

75 




IMMORTALITY 


beneath the sod, so surely respond to 
the silent command of summer, who can 
doubt that man shall spring up out of 
the unconscious dust into eternal life 
when God shall call? Can it be that 
the grass and the flowers are resurrect¬ 
ed from the sod of earth, while man, for 
whom they were made, must sleep on 
forever ?” 

VIII.—The Testimony of the Dying 

I well remember my first trip to visit 
my father and mother after they made 
their home at Clarksville, Tenn. I took 
the Louisville & Nashville train at Mc- 

76 






IMMORTALITY 


Kenzie, Tenn. We did not move so rap¬ 
idly while climbing Tennessee Ridge in 
the first half of the trip, but when we 
had passed the crest, the train seemed 

to increase her speed, and just as we 
were nearing the hour when we were 
to arrive, I looked from the window 
and the train was on a great trestle. The 
sun had gone down. The dark shadows 
of night were gathering. Below was a 
dark valley. I then discovered that we 
were approaching a river; I could see its 
chilly waters. Then I lifted my eyes, 
and saw the lights of the city on the 
hills beyond the river. We crossed the 

77 

< 

« i 

o « < 

<. « 


C « c 




IMMORTALITY 


bridge that spans the Cumberland, and 
soon we reached the station, and I met 

my loved ones, who had been waiting 
for me. I said in my mind, ‘This is a 
picture of the journey of life-” Some of 
us are now climbing to the crest. Others 
are rapidly advancing in the last half 
of the journey. In the evening of life 
when we pass through the dark valley 
and approach that last dreaded river, 
will we be able to lift our eyes and see 
the lights of the city on the other shore ? 

Candidly, should not the testimony of 
those who have spoken while in the twi¬ 
light of two worlds assure us beyond 

78 




IMMORTALITY 


doubt that, “In the night of death hope 
sees a star, and, listening, love can hear 

the rustle of a wing” ? Certainly so, for 
dying men would tell no untrue tales. 

In conclusion I call your attention to 
those whose dying words are my last 
argument in this effort to assure you 
that if a man die, he shall live again: 

“Bless you, there is no river here.”— 
Bishop Haven. 

“What shall I say? Christ is alto¬ 
gether lovely; His glorious angels are 
come for me.”—John Bailey. 

“See in what peace a Christian can 
die.”—Joseph Addison. 


79 




IMMORTALITY 


“I am not disappointed.”—Bishop 
Janes. 

“Such singing! Do you hear it?”— 
John Carey. 

“I did not suppose it was so sweet to 
die.”—Saurez, the Spanish Theologian. 

“If this be dying, it is the easiest 
thing imaginable.”—Lady Glinorchy. 

“Rest, perfect rest.”—Thomas Bur¬ 
rows. 

“All is light.”—Theophilus Pugh. 

“Tell my brethren I am on the rock. 
There is no other foundation.”—Joseph 
Hollis. 

“Talk to me, Jesus.”— Adam Nightin¬ 
gale. 


80 





IMMORTALITY 


“Glory! glory! glory! hallelujah, Je¬ 
sus reigns.”—Jesse Lee. 

“If I had strength to hold a pen, I 
would write how easy and delightful it 
is to die.”—Wm. Hunter. 

I quote Dr. R. A. Torrey in “The Bible 
and Its Christ,” published by Fleming 
H. Revell Company, concerning the 
death of the great Moody: 

“Early on the morning of his depar¬ 
ture from this world his eldest son was 
sitting beside his bed. He heard his 
father speaking in a low voice; he 
leaned over to listen, and these were 
the words that he heard: 'Earth is re- 

81 




IMMORTALITY 


ceding; heaven is opening; God is call¬ 
ing/ ‘You are dreaming, father/ said 
the son. ‘No, Will, this is no dream; I 
have been within the gates- I have seen 
the children's faces.' The family were 
summoned. Mr. Moody rallied. A while 
after, he began to sink again, and he 
was heard to say, ‘Is this death? This 
is not bad; there is no valley. This is 
bliss. This is glorious.' ‘Father,' said 
his daughter, ‘you must not leave us. 
We cannot spare you.' The dying man 
replied: ‘I am not going to throw my 
life away; if God has any more work for 
me to do, I will get well and do it; but 
if God is calling, I must be up and off.’ 
He rallied again. He gained sufficient 

82 




IMMORTALITY 


strength to arise from the bed and walk 
over to the window. He sat down in a 

chair, and talked with his family. He 
began to think he would recover, and 
was contemplating sending for his pas¬ 
tor to pray for his recovery, but, begin¬ 
ning to sink again, he asked them to 
help him back to the bed. As he was 
sinking, his daughter knelt by the bed 
and commenced to pray for his recov¬ 
ery, but he said: ‘No, no, Emma; don't 
pray that. God is calling. This is my 
coronation day. I have been looking 
forward to it.' And the heroic warrior 
swept into the presence of the King." 

83 









4 ‘THE MYSTERIES OF RELIGION 
SIMPLIFIED” 


This is a special series by James M. 
McLeskey, presenting evidence to vindi¬ 
cate the reasonableness of the claims of 
Christianity. The subjects are as fol¬ 
lows : 

1. Is There a God, Who Existed Before 

the Beginning? 

2. Why Are We Not Permitted to Lit¬ 

erally See God’s Face and 
Hear His Voice in This Life, 
Rather Than Commune with Him 
Through Prayer and Faith? 

3. Why Was It Necessary for Christ to 

Die in Order That We Be Saved? 

4. If the Bible Teaches the Way of 

Life, Why Such Difference of In- 



terpretation ? 

5. How May We Know That the Bible 

Is Genuine? 

6. How May We Know That the Bible 

Is Inspired? 

7. Are the Scriptures Scientific? 

8. Alleged Errors and Contradictions 

in the Bible. 

9. Why Not Miracles Today as in the 

Days of the Apostles? 

10. The Deity of Christ. 

11. Is Christianity the Only True Reli¬ 

gion? 

12. The Psychology of Religious Doubts 

and Fears. 


13. Immortality. 











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